Ballybunion Beach

Ballybunion has been a seaside resort since the railway arrived in the nineteenth century, and it retains that character - a town that fills in July and empties again. A headland with the ruin of a fifteenth-century Fitzmaurice castle on it divides the sand into two strands, the Ladies Beach and the Men's Beach, named for the era when bathing was segregated by sex. Both are Blue Flag and lifeguarded in high summer. The cliffs on either side hold a set of sea caves and arches that can be walked into at low tide and are cut off by the incoming water, which catches people most years. Ballybunion also has a long tradition of seaweed baths, hot baths of seawater and fresh-cut seaweed, run commercially here since the 1930s. The town's golf links are internationally known and were played by Bill Clinton in 1998, which the town has never entirely stopped mentioning.

What you actually see

• The two strands - divided by the headland and its castle ruin.
• The sea caves - walkable at low tide, cut off as it rises.
• The seaweed baths - a local tradition run commercially since the 1930s.
• The castle - a fifteenth-century Fitzmaurice ruin on the point.

When to go

May to September; lifeguards cover both beaches in July and August. Check tide times before entering the caves - people are cut off in them every year.

Honest expectations

The caves flood on the incoming tide and are a genuine hazard. Outside high summer the town is quiet and many businesses close. Cliff edges above the beaches are unfenced and eroding.

Nearby

Listowel is inland; the Shannon Estuary and the Tarbert ferry are north.